Honolulu, HI – Today, the Sierra
Club announced it would invest significant resources in a new targeted mail
campaign to reach voters in Hawai‘i’s Second Congressional District. Three mail
pieces - each reaching 48,000 Hawai‘i homes - will contrast Tulsi Gabbard’s
business background, military experience, and strong environmental record with
Mufi Hannemann’s history of pay-to-play politics, bullying and environmental
mismanagement

“As a
businesswoman, a veteran, and an elected official who fought to protect
Hawai‘i’s natural legacy, Tulsi Gabbard has proven she’s the kind of leader we
can trust to create jobs and stand up to special interests,” said Anthony Aalto, Chair
of the Sierra Club, O‘ahu Group. “In sharp
contrast, Mufi Hannemann has an abysmal environmental record, a paper trail of
bullying personal attacks and a record of siding with wealthy campaign
contributors. We need a new leader to protect our environment, our health, and
our economy -- and Tulsi Gabbard has the knowledge and the experience to do
just that.”

The Sierra Club’s mail highlights several
aspects of Gabbard’s background and record of protecting the environment and
health of Hawai’i’s families. At age 19,
Gabbard co-founded the non-profit Healthy Hawai‘i coalition to preserve
Hawai‘i’s watersheds and improve the health of local communities and families.
As a city councilwoman and state legislator, Gabbard personally led the volunteer
cleanup effort at city beaches after flooding at the Waimanalo Gulch landfill
released dangerous medical waste and she wrote and passed a new city law to
keep plastic bags from polluting Honolulu’s coastal waters. Gabbard also
volunteered to deploy for two tours of duty in the Middle East, serving as
Captain and Company Commander in the National Guard.

Ignored
warnings about the sewage mains that burst and discharged more than 50
million gallons of raw sewage into the Ala Wai canal;

At the same time, Hannemann has engaged in campaigns attacking the
families and backgrounds of his opponents, while taking large campaign
contributions from contractors and developers to whom he has awarded huge
public contracts.